


tie our hearts (and hands) together

by dojaefairy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26156590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dojaefairy/pseuds/dojaefairy
Summary: In which it takes Taeil and Haechan being handcuffed to each other during a game of hide and seek to finally confess.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 8
Kudos: 84





	tie our hearts (and hands) together

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This piece is being published today to celebrate my first anniversary as a NCT writer - I hope to celebrate many more! It's been a fun time writing for this fandom and I have so many ideas for new fics! 
> 
> The biggest thank you to my favorite writer and friend @arabmorgan who's always there to discuss fanfics with me and help me develop my ideas and plots ♡♡♡ so many of my fics wouldn't be what they are without you girl ;u; ♡

It all starts during a particularly agitated lunch. Taeil is the calmest out of everyone present, but that’s mostly because he’s focused on eating his food before it gets too cold for his liking. Haechan, on his left, is making wild gestures as he explains to Johnny and Taeyong how his microwave almost caught on fire as he was cooking yesterday. Johnny is listening with interest, while Taeyong on his side is just as involved, although worry for Haechan’s well-being is very much present on their face.

On Taeil’s right, Kun and Ten are arguing about which one of them their cats like best based on their recent interactions with them, and Taeil feels a little proud because Kun and Ten’s cats adore him and always show it when he visits them – not that the cat owners would admit it. That leaves a distressed Jaehyun in front of Taeil, who keeps glancing at his phone and checking whether he received new messages.

“Is everything alright?” Taeil asks Jaehyun, seeing as the younger’s gaze is burning holes into his phone.

“Doyoung had to take our son to the vet,” Jaehyun explains, distress obvious on his pained face, “and he hasn’t updated me yet.”

In another situation, Taeil would’ve made a joke about how Doyoung and Jaehyun refer to their rescue coton puppy as their child, but Jaehyun is obviously not in a joking mood, which Taeil understands.

“What’s wrong with Myeong?” Taeil asks.

“He kept coughing and he even threw up a few times,” Jaehyun replies with a grimace, “I really hope it’s nothing too bad,” he adds, eyebrows dropping.

Taeil sends him an encouraging smile.

“I’m sure Doyoung will text you soon enough and tell you Myeong’s fine!” Taeil tells him, and Jaehyun smiles back, thankful.

The conversations keep going until Johnny clears his throat and ask for everyone’s attention. Taeil holds back a snort as Kun and Ten turn away each other, having apparently reached no satisfying end to their debate. Haechan perks up, while Taeyong is sipping on water. Jaehyun’s phone rings as Johnny is about to talk, and as he hurries to refuse the Facetime call, he accidentally accepts it and Doyoung’s voice can be heard going “Myeong, c’mon, say hi to daddy!”.

Everyone around the table looks at Jaehyun, who turns as red as a strawberry, and a few people who were walking by their table look at Jaehyun with judging eyes.

“Jaehyun?” Doyoung calls out his boyfriend’s name, “hey, Jaehyun?”

Johnny takes Jaehyun’s phone, and waves at Doyoung.

“I think daddy is feeling embarrassed from having been called daddy in public,” Johnny teases with a shit-eating grin.

Doyoung’s annoyed sigh can be heard loudly through the phone speaker, and Taeil starts laughing as Jaehyun takes back his phone from Johnny’s hands.

“Ignore Johnny,” Jaehyun says, pausing to glare at his friend, “how’s Myeong?” he then asks his boyfriend.

“He’s all good, it’s just a small cold! I bought medicine and I’m bringing him home now.”

Jaehyun lets out a sigh of relief, and as the puppy barks he turns his phone screen towards his friends to let them see him.

“I want a puppy too,” Haechan whines.

“You’re a puppy, how would you raise another one?” Ten jokes.

Taeil laughs, and Myeong barks once more, as if he approves of Ten’s joke.

“Kay, I’ll go home now, see you later!” Doyoung says.

“See you later, I love you,” Jaehyun replies before hanging up, “sorry about the call,” he says and Johnny waves a hand.

“No problem.”

“So, what were you gonna say earlier?” Kun asks, and Taeil notices that him and Ten have visibly made up during the short time Jaehyun and Doyoung’s call lasted because they’re holding hands now.

“What would you think of coming over this Friday? Taeyong and I have been wanting to throw a party to celebrate being fully settled in our house and we thought it’d be nice for everyone to come.”

Taeil goes “oh” at the same time as Haechan, and Ten smiles brightly.

“Sure, that sounds fun!” Ten immediately answers, “we’re free this Friday, right?” he then asks Kun, who nods.

“I’m free too,” Taeil answers with a grin.

He glances at Haechan, and he raises a curious eyebrow as the younger looks away rapidly, as if ashamed to have been caught looking at him.

“Same here,” Haechan sing-songs, pretending he wasn’t staring at Taeil just now.

“I’m asking Doyoung but I’m pretty sure we’re good too,” Jaehyun adds while typing on his phone, “do we need to bring anything?”

“Other than yourselves, nope,” Taeyong replies, “but Johnny thought of a dress code, right?”

“I did, I’ll text you all about it once we have the confirmation that Jaehyun and Doyoung are free,” Johnny confirms his boyfriend’s words with a grin, “it’s going be fun!”

* * *

Friday night comes and finds Taeil standing up in the street, waiting for Haechan to come and pick him up. He’s already attracted a few curious gazes on himself because of his outfit, but he merely ignored them and focused on texting Johnny that yes, Haechan hadn’t arrived yet and that it was the younger’s fault they were late. Everyone’s already here, Johnny complains one more time, and Taeil sends a cute cat emoji saying sorry.

At last, he hears a car pulling up near him, and Haechan waves at him from the inside. Taeil pockets his phone in his pants and sits next to Haechan with a sigh.

“You’re late,” Taeil tells him, “Johnny’s been spamming me asking where we were, you know.”

“Sorry!” Haechan exclaims with a pout, “I had prepared all of my stuff, I swear, but right as I was about to leave, I couldn’t find my keys! I wasted so much time looking for them but they were just in my pocket,” he adds, looking at Taeil with puppy eyes, “it’s not my fault those keys disappeared,” he concludes, taking Taeil’s hands in his own.

Taeil sighs once more, but his soft spot for Haechan made him forgive the younger man already. It’s not like he’s not used to the other’s tardiness, after all. It’s good enough that Haechan didn’t encounter more troubles.

“So, what outfit did you pick?” Taeil asks as Haechan releases his hands, reluctantly.

“Can’t you tell? I’m a police officer!” Haechan exclaims.

Taeil takes a good look at him, and indeed, he’s wearing a policeman uniform. From the corner of his eye, Taeil can even spot a police officer hat and a fake gun in the backseat.

“Your outfit suits you so much,” Haechan marvels aloud, breaking Taeil’s focus, “oh, is that make up on your eye?”

“Yup,” Taeil grins, coming closer to Haechan to show off his visible eye, the one not covered by an eyepatch.

“You’re the prettiest pirate I’ve ever seen,” Haechan compliments, and Taeil turns pink.

In his opinion, he went with a very basic pirate outfit: an old hat that could pass as pirate-ish, an eyepatch on his left eye, a loose white shirt with the top buttons opened on his chest, revealing a gold necklace around his neck, and black pants with a worn out belt. He went the extra mile and chose to wear a few rings as well as apply make up to his right eye, just a bit of eyeliner as well as gray and gold eyeshadow. While acknowledging he looks good, he doesn’t think he looks as good as Haechan seems to think, but he’s not going to tell the younger that.

Haechan is still staring at him with starry eyes, and Taeil won’t deny that he doesn’t mind – if anything, it makes him feel a little giddy on the inside. It’s a little difficult to look back at Haechan given his eyepatch is in the way, but for what he’s able to see, Haechan is unable to take his eyes off him. It’s not an unpleasant feeling, and Taeil wonders how much time has spent since they started looking at each other without breaking eye contact.

Haechan starts leaning in and they both freeze as Taeil’s phone starts blasting his ringtone. Haechan immediately retreats while Taeil fumbles with his phone to accept the call; it’s Johnny, obviously.

“Where are you?” Johnny asks.

“Haechan just arrived, we’re leaving!” Taeil lies.

“He just arrived?” Johnny repeats, “c’mon guys, we’re gonna end up eating without you.”

“Stop thinking with your stomach!” Haechan says loudly.

“You, stop talking and start driving!” Johnny counters, “and be careful on the road!”

“We’ll be there soon,” Taeil adds and he hangs up.

Haechan grumbles and gets the car started under Taeil’s fond gaze.

* * *

They arrive at Johnny and Taeyong’s house fifteen minutes later, and while Johnny and Doyoung loudly complain about their late arrival, Taeyong shushes them. Once everyone has sat down and has a drink, the conversations pick up once more. Taeil ignores Haechan provoking Doyoung to chat with Jaehyun instead, who’s explaining how they asked Doyoung’s brother to dog-sit their puppy for tonight.

Taeil has a hard time not laughing while talking to Jaehyun, who’s dressed as a werewolf. It’s the ears that really make it hard not to burst in laughter because they fit him so well, somehow, and he just looks like an oversized puppy rather than a scary werewolf. Doyoung is a vampire, and similarly to his fiancé, he’s far from being scary – especially now that he took off his fake vampire teeth to eat.

“Why are you wearing silver jewelry if you’re a vampire and a werewolf?” Haechan is asking to Doyoung, who looks ready to smack the younger any minute now, “silver is supposed to be bad for you!”

“Our engagement rings are made of gold, though,” Jaehyun defends himself, and Taeil isn’t sure if that’s really helping the whole situation.

“Why are you bothering me with such details?” Doyoung shoots back, “why aren’t you arresting Ten for indecent exposure since you’re a police officer?!”

That makes Taeil look at Ten again, and sure enough, it’s a good thing they’re not in public because Ten would’ve certainly been arrested; he came disguised as a mummy, which when you’re Ten means being naked save for white underwear and strips of white fabric all over your body. Kun is the opposite of his boyfriend when it comes to clothes, for he came as an explorer and is thus fully dressed. They fit together really well, Taeil notices, and he’s not surprised they manage to make their costumes match somehow.

Johnny and Taeyong also have matching outfits, and Taeil would argue that while Doyoung and Jaehyun look cute and Kun and Ten match in a strange way, Johnny and Taeyong look straight up ridiculous. He’s sure it’s Johnny who decided on them wearing cowboy outfits, and it’s so embarrassing he can barely look at them. The outfits look cheap, from the awful brown hats to the dirty beige shirts (Taeyong’s reads “Yee” and Johnny’s “Haw”) while not forgetting about their ugly brown trousers and their black boots.

Peak horror, Taeil would argue, comes from the goofy-looking horses toy sticks that are now laying against the couch. Taeil isn’t sure if Johnny genuinely thought him and Taeyong would look good or if he went overboard on purpose. Bless Taeyong for going along with their boyfriend’s weird ideas, Taeil thinks. Love probably does that to you.

Dinner goes well, with Haechan and Johnny teaming up against Doyoung, and they’re eventually joined by Ten who just loves seeing Doyoung crumble against their united verbal attacks. Taeil thinks it’s highly amusing because Doyoung has a sharp tongue and fights back as much as he can – until he usually gives up and settles with just hiding behind Jaehyun. Taeil, for his part, spends time chatting with Taeyong, Jaehyun and Kun, but he sometimes also shares some words with Haechan. After all, Haechan and him are the only ones who are still single out of their group of friends, and they’ve become quite good at not addressing the quasi constant sexual tension between them.

Dinner comes to an end, and Taeil is feeling really happy to be here with his friends, despite all of them having complied with Johnny’s extravagant dressing code. They’ve all been drinking, so everyone is a lot more relaxed and Taeil can’t deny he’s feeling content with Haechan cuddling his side. Feeling Haechan’s warmth makes him restless, and he hopes he’s not being too obvious. Tipsy Haechan isn’t as sensible as sober Haechan, though, so there’s actually a good chance that Haechan hasn’t noticed what he does to him.

Around them, the couples have gotten closer to each other. While Kun and Ten are just holding hands, Jaehyun has an arm around Doyoung’s waist and is resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Taeyong is hugging Johnny’s side, their arms tightly wrapped against their boyfriend’s waist. Johnny is carding his fingers through Taeyong’s hair, and Taeyong seems pretty happy with the soft gesture.

“It’s time for a game!” Johnny exclaims, and everyone perks up.

Taeyong unwraps their arms from around Johnny, and Johnny gets up. While Johnny leaves the kitchen where dinner took place, Taeyong speaks up.

“Johnny came up with a little game to spice up the evening! We’re going to be divided in pairs: one pair will act as the detectives and they’ll have to look for clues, which will be kept by the other pairs who will be hidden in the house. There’s a total of three clues, and the detective pair will then have to find the treasure thanks to those.”

“That sounds funny!” Haechan exclaims, “can we hide anywhere in the house?”

“Yes,” Taeyong confirms, “maybe not outside because it’s gotten colder and depending on how much time it’ll take to the detectives to find you, you might become sick, but the garage is okay!”

“How do we decide on the pairs?” Taeil asks, even if he’s pretty sure of the answer.

Taeyong smiles.

“We thought it’d be easier to go with the already formed couples, so that would leave you and Haechan together, if that’s okay with you.”

Taeil gulps down. Of course he’d be with Haechan.

“That’s perfect, Taeil and I have great teamwork!” Haechan cheers up, and Taeil knows the alcohol is making him a little too enthusiast.

Around the table, the two couples seem happy to know they’ll be staying with their partner, and Taeil wishes he could feel as relaxed at the thought of spending the night with Haechan either looking for their friends or hidden in some dark place, close to each other.

Johnny comes back and everyone gets up to clear and clean the table before the game can start.

“So, here are the clues,” Johnny says, laying down three envelopes on the table, “and here’s how we’re going to decide on everyone’s roles,” he adds, putting a closed box with a hole next to the envelopes. “Each pair decides on a person who will draw a piece of paper from the box. You’re obviously free to show what role your pair got to your partner, but we’ll wait for everyone to be done before revealing our roles to the other players. Obviously, Taeyong and I will hide since we’re the ones who organized the game, there would be no point in us being the detectives. We’ll start the game once all of you have drawn a role!”

“There’s no time limit, our house isn’t that big anyway so it shouldn’t take too long,” Taeyong adds with a grin.

Johnny presses a kiss to their cheek, and Taeyong giggles.

“Can I draw? Can I draw?” Haechan asks Taeil, making him smile fondly.

“Yes you can,” he answers.

“Yay!”

Taeil watches as Haechan is first to pick a piece of paper from the box, and both their eyes open wide as they see that they got the detectives roles. They share an excited look, and pretend not to notice Johnny and Taeyong’s knowing eyes on them. Jaehyun picks a piece while Doyoung tells him to pick well, followed by Kun.

“Okay, time to reveal your roles!” Johnny announces.

There’s lots of chatting and giggles at Taeil and Haechan being the detectives, but then the pairs who have to hide are also excited, already discussing of possible hiding spots.

“Stop being so loud, I want to go through the fun of looking for all of you!” Haechan protests.

“There, there, calm down,” Taeil tells him, covering Haechan’s ears and making everyone laugh at his sudden action.

Johnny distributes the clues to the pairs who will hide, keeping one of them for him and Taeyong. The hiding pairs then agree on sending a text to Taeil once they’re hidden, and it seems that things are falling into place.

“Well, we’re good to go. You guys stay here while we hide, okay?” Johnny tells Haechan and Taeil, who nod.

“Let’s go!” Ten exclaims, hitting Kun’s arm excitedly.

“Where should we hide?” Doyoung asks Jaehyun, who starts whispering in his ear.

Taeyong is the last one to leave the kitchen, and they wave at Taeil and Haechan before joining Johnny.

It’s suddenly calm again, now that it’s only him and Haechan, and Taeil wonders what they should do while waiting for the text from their friends. He takes off his eyepatch, wanting to be able to see with both eyes, and hey make small talk for a while. That is, before Haechan suddenly comes up to Taeil and smiles at him. His grin is too wide to be truly innocent, so Taeil tells himself to be careful because you never know what tipsy Haechan is capable of.

“Yes?” he asks Haechan.

“I made us friendship bracelets!”

That’s… surprisingly cute and unexpected. What could possibly go wrong?

“Aw, that’s so sweet! Put it on me!” Taeil exclaims, holding his right arm towards Haechan.

He’s met with cold metal around his wrist, and before he can pull away, Haechan has handcuffed them together. Taeil blinks, once, twice, and he stares in confusion at the pair of handcuffs trapping his right wrist and Haechan’s left.

“Haechan?” Taeil calls out.

“Yes?” Haechan grins.

“Those are no friendship bracelets,” Taeil says.

“They’re not?”

Haechan tilts his head, and pouts.

“Well for my defense I did not have real friendship bracelets, so I went with the closest item I could think of!”

“Why were you even carrying a pair of real handcuffs with you?” Taeil protests.

“I’m a police officer,” Haechan declares, proudly.

“Okay police officer, get the key and release us because we’re not spending the whole game handcuffed to each other,” Taeil sighs.

There’s a short silence, and Taeil looks up. Haechan looks away, and Taeil has a bad feeling about this whole situation.

“You do have the key, right?”

“Ha ha ha, of course I do!”

Another silence.

“No I don’t.”

Taeil opens his mouth, only to close it again.

“You handcuffed us without having the key to said handcuffs.”

“I’m sorry! I thought it’d be fun and it’d spice things up!”

Taeil is about to argue because what the heck was Haechan _thinking_ – or rather why was he not thinking – but his phone vibrates: everyone is ready. He quickly types an answer in the groupchat to let them know that he’ll be on the move with Haechan very soon, and he sends Haechan a disapproving look.

“Okay, we don’t have a choice. Let’s find everyone and finish the game and then we’ll find a way to get out of these.”

Haechan nods, and they get up at the same time. At first, they’re walking in silence, then Haechan tugs at Taeil’s wrist and Taeil’s met with a sad puppy-eyed Haechan. Taeil stops walking, and he establishes eye contact with Haechan. The latter has a little trouble standing up straight because he’s still tipsy, and it’s kind of funny to see.

“Are you mad at me?” Haechan asks, biting on his lower lip.

Taeil thinks for a few seconds, but he comes to an obvious conclusion.

“No,” he answers, patting Haechan’s head with his free hand, “I was surprised but it’s not so bad, being handcuffed to you. At least, those handcuffs aren’t too tight and it’s not hurting my wrist.”

At that, Haechan’s whole face lights up with happiness, and he tries to take hold of Taeil’s handcuffed hand with his own. He giggles, and the sound of his crush giggling so cutely makes Taeil melt. Haechan’s eyes are shining with both the excitement caused by alcohol and the game, and Taeil thinks they look really pretty right now.

“Let’s find the others,” Taeil concludes, and Haechan nods with enthusiasm.

* * *

In Johnny and Taeyong’s room, the couple is finally recovering from their laughing fit due to their hiding spot – read, under their bed. Hiding under a bed seemed pretty predictable, Taeyong thought, but Johnny argued that it was precisely for that reason that they needed to give it a shot. The more obvious the hiding spot, the safer they’d be!

“Where do you think the others went?” Taeyong whispers to Johnny.

Johnny goes “hmm” before he answers.

“Kun would probably go for somewhere safe, but Ten has his way of getting what he wants, you know? So I think they’ll probably end up somewhere unexpected, maybe not really comfortable. Maybe under the bed in the guest room? Or worst, the closet?”

“No way,” Taeyong laughs, “do you think they’d end up in the closet? That’d be plain ridiculous!”

“Hush babe, you’re being too loud,” Johnny reminds them, squeezing Taeyong’s hand in his.

“You’re right, sorry,” Taeyong apologizes, turning around so as to press a kiss to Johnny’s shoulder. “What about Doyoung and Jaehyun?”

“They’ll probably go wild,” Johnny thinks aloud.

“The garage or the attic, then,” Taeyong muses, “Doyoung would complain about those but Jaehyun has him wrapped around his finger, it’d take him no time to convince Doyoung.”

It’s Johnny’s time to chuckle, and he squeezes Taeyong’s fingers once more.

“We’ll have to ask them once the game has ended.”

They remain in silence for a short while, and Taeyong speaks up again.

“I’m glad you had that game idea. Actually, inviting everyone for dinner and then having us play a game was perfect.”

“Aw, thanks love,” Johnny answers, carefully turning around so as to kiss Taeyong on the lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Taeyong smiles in their kiss.

Taeyong initiates another kiss once Johnny breaks away, and after sucking on their boyfriend’s tongue for a few seconds, they finally break the sweet exchange.

“This whole situation is making me realize that the carpet of our room is really comfortable,” Johnny comments, and Taeyong has the hardest time not bursting out in laughter at their lover’s impromptu words.

“Johnny I’m _begging_ you, stop being a clown! We’ll get caught,” Taeyong protests, breathing heavily.

“We’ll get caught eventually, why would it matter if it happens because you’re laughing adorably?” Johnny retorts, and Taeyong hits his chest.

“Stop flirting.”

“Never.”

“… Okay, fair. Let’s try and be quiet, I think I’m hearing footsteps approaching.”

“Do you think it’s okay to check Johnny and Taeyong’s room?” Taeil asks Haechan, who nods right away.

“Taeyong said the detectives could check the whole house, so yes! I’m sure they would’ve mentioned it if their bedroom wasn’t a hiding spot,” Haechan argues.

“You’re right,” Taeil nods back, “let’s go check it then.”

The duo enters their hosts’ bedroom, treading carefully on the carpet. Haechan turns on the light with his free hand, and Taeil approaches the bed, which is made.

“Hm, looks like there’s no one inside the bed,” Taeil comments aloud.

“You’re silly, of course there’s no one,” Haechan laughs.

Taeil pouts, and completely forgets about the handcuff issue as he tries to approach a closet while Haechan gets closer to the bed. This results in Haechan tumbling over the bed, landing on the mattress, and Taeil messily falling on top of him. There’s some groans as they try to unwrap themselves from each other, and they end up with both their faces very, very close.

Taeil blinks as his eyes get lost in Haechan’s, and he’s suddenly very aware of the tension between them. Haechan licks his own lips, and Taeil ponders about leaning in and pressing their mouths together because it’d be so easy to taste Haechan’s pretty lips against his—until there’s a loud sneeze, coming from under the bed.

Taeil snaps back to reality, just like Haechan, and they almost fall of the bed as they hurry to take a look under it; there, Taeyong is pouting while Johnny is whispering countless apologies.

“Ha, found you!” Haechan exclaims, as if he’s forgotten all about Taeil and him almost kissing.

Taeil decides it’s best to pretend the strange event did not happen, and he joins his partner in making fun of Johnny and Taeyong, who are getting up.

“It’s a shame Johnny’s sneeze betrayed you,” Taeil says, “that was a pretty good hiding spot.”

“What do you mean good hiding spot?” Haechan asks, “I was just about to check under the bed, I would’ve found them without struggling!” he brags.

“I’m sorry Yongie, I didn’t mean to sneeze,” Johnny apologizes once more, and Taeil snickers seeing Taeyong faking being mad at their lover.

“Hmph!”

“Okay guys, drop the act,” Taeil intervenes.

“Yeah, give us the clue!” Haechan chirps in.

“Sure, you’ve deserved it,” Johnny says, and he takes out an envelope from a drawer of the bedside table, “there you go.”

“Hold on, are you guys handcuffed?” Taeyong suddenly asks.

Taeil flushes, and Haechan freezes.

“It’s not what you think!” Taeil answers, flustered, “Haechan just had the marvelous idea to handcuff us together and we don’t have the key of the handcuffs!”

Taeyong snorts, and Taeil glares at them.

“I’m sure Johnny will be able to help you with that after the game,” they say.

“Yup, you can count on me! But let’s finish the game first,” Johnny adds with an evil grin.

Taeil exits the room while mumbling about hating Johnny, and Haechan tugs at their handcuffed hands.

“Taeil, let’s look at the clue before we advance!”

Oh, right, the clue. Taeil watches with interest as Haechan opens the envelope, and takes out a piece of paper on which is written a single word: jewelry.

“Hm, could it be that the treasure is a jewel?” Taeil wonders aloud.

“Could be,” Haechan approves, “let’s keep looking for more clues!”

* * *

“We should probably stop,” Doyoung whispers against Jaehyun’s lips.

At that, Jaehyun pauses, and takes a good look at his fiancé who’s been straddling his lap for about as long as they’ve been hiding in Johnny and Taeyong’s attic. He snorts, and readjusts Doyoung against him.

“You’re the one who sat on me and started kissing me,” Jaehyun calls him out.

Doyoung squirms, and he bites his lower lip. Jaehyun wants to kiss him very badly.

“I know,” Doyoung protests weakly, “but it’s been a while and I’m starting to think that maybe Taeil and Haechan will arrive soon.”

“And your point is…?”

“We can’t be seen making out.”

Jaehyun snorts once more.

“What do you think the others are doing? Playing card games? Ten came half-naked, I’m sure that the game gave him one more reason to end up making out with Kun somewhere.”

“Do not compare me to Ten’s horny ass,” Doyoung complains, hitting Jaehyun’s arm.

“You’re right, you’re worse,” Jaehyun teases him.

Doyoung kisses him hard to shut him up, and Jaehyun is pretty content with how the conversation is ending because kissing Doyoung is exactly what he wanted to do. He brings Doyoung impossibly closer, hands trailing down his lover’s back all the way to his thighs, which he squeezes.

“Don’t,” Doyoung whispers, his mouth leaving Jaehyun’s for his neck.

Jaehyun can’t hold back a shiver of pleasure feeling Doyoung leaving open-mouthed kisses against his sensitive neck, and he moans. Doyoung bites his neck, softly, just teeth grazing his skin enough to tickle, and Jaehyun shivers once more. He feels powerless, weak against pleasure, but he loves Doyoung’s marks of affection.

“Baby,” Jaehyun calls out softly, and Doyoung presses their mouths together in a wet kiss.

Jaehyun answers the kiss for as long as he can breathe, and when they break away, saliva dropping down their chins, he’s forgotten all about the ongoing game.

“I love you,” he murmurs against Doyoung’s mouth, pecking his lips tenderly.

“I love you more,” Doyoung answers.

They remain hugging in silence for a short while, foreheads pressed together and Jaehyun caressing Doyoung’s sides. Doyoung does leave Jaehyun’s lap, telling him his legs are starting to hurt, and they cuddle while sitting next to each other, hand in hand. Taking advantage of the new position, Jaehyun brings Doyoung’s left hand to his mouth and kisses his ring, softly. Doyoung giggles and kisses his cheek before dropping his head on his shoulder.

“What’s taking them so long?” Doyoung wonders aloud, “the house isn’t that big.”

“Maybe they’ve also decided they needed a break to make out with each other,” Jaehyun jokes.

Doyoung chuckles.

“Do you think Taeil and Haechan will start dating? Everyone can tell they’re crushing on each other, I’m sure they’ve realized it too.”

“Who knows?” Jaehyun muses, “there’s so much sexual tension between them, it’s insane. It’s like they’re constantly about to stop whatever they’re doing to make out, but something is holding them back?”

“I hope neither is thinking that the other isn’t into him,” Doyoung shakes his head.

“Maybe it’s more complicated than that,” Jaehyun says, “maybe they’re afraid of the consequences that them dating could have on their friendship.”

“Oh, right,” Doyoung agrees in a sad voice.

“Hopefully it’ll turn out nicely, just like the rest of us,” Jaehyun concludes, trying to cheer up, “look at Johnny and Taeyong finally settled in their own house, Kun and Ten adopting cats together… and us, of course.”

He pauses, wanting to find the right words, and Doyoung looks up.

“We’re engaged, we already have an adorable son, and it’s just a matter of time before we can be officially husbands. I couldn’t have asked for a better life.”

“I love you,” Doyoung smiles brightly before leaning for a kiss.

“Love you too,” Jaehyun answers after their kiss.

Jaehyun opens his mouth to add something when the door of the attic creaks open, making them both jump in surprise.

“Is anyone there ~” Haechan sing songs.

“As if they’d answer,” Taeil sighs.

Jaehyun and Doyoung share a knowing look, and, as if their two brains suddenly worked as one, both start making creepy ghost noises. Taeil and Haechan let out a scream of surprise, and Haechan loudly complains about the pair’s attempt at scaring them.

“What did I ever do to you to deserve such unfair treatment?” Haechan whines.

“Oh boy, the list is so long,” Doyoung sighs.

Haechan pretends he did not hear, and Taeil switches the lights on. Everyone groans, their eyes slowly getting used to the light again, and Taeil approaches Doyoung and Jaehyun, followed by Haechan.

“Is the floor really comfortable?” Taeil asks, eyeing the sitting couple.

“Not really,” Doyoung answers as he gets up, and Jaehyun chuckles, standing up as well.

“Babe, you sat on me almost the entire time we were hiding.”

“Okay, no one wants the details about you passionately making out in the dark, now hand over the clue,” Haechan interrupts.

He stretches his left hand, the one handcuffed to Taeil, towards their friends, and there’s a moment of silence.

“What have you two been doing?” Doyoung asks, “what’s with the handcuffs?”

“Kinky,” Jaehyun teases, laughing.

Taeil explains the situation once more, although it’s obvious Doyoung and Jaehyun don’t believe him. Haechan grows impatient and asks for the clue once more, and Jaehyun hands it over. Haechan mumbles a thank you and opens the envelope: this time, the clue is a piece of paper that reads “soulmates”.

“Oh, that’s so cute!” Doyoung marvels.

“That’s us baby,” Jaehyun teases, bringing Doyoung to him to kiss his cheek, “that was a fitting clue.”

Taeil is torn between feeling jealous and wanting to smack Doyoung and Jaehyun for being so ridiculously in love openly, and he ends up picking jealousy. He’d probably be just as corny with Haechan if given the opportunity, so it’s not fair to resent the future husbands.

Taeil watches as Haechan pockets the second clue, and their eyes meet.

“Only one left!” Haechan cheers, and Taeil grins.

* * *

They’re back to wandering inside Johnny and Taeyong’s home, quietly. Doyoung and Jaehyun said they’d join their hosts in the living room, and Taeil is thinking hard about where Kun and Ten could be hiding. Haechan offers that they check Johnny’s study next to the bedroom, and Taeil agrees with the idea.

They enter the room, and keep close to each other as they check the possible hiding spots. Everything is going well until Haechan kneels to takes a look near the desk and gets the small chain that links their handcuffs together entangled with a smaller chain hanging from the desk. Haechan swears, and tries to fix the situation, but he only manages to make it worse.

“Taeil,” he whines from the floor, “it’s stuck.”

“Let me have a look,” Taeil says, and he kneels near Haechan to have a better look at whatever mess Haechan did.

It’s not easy disentangling the chains with only one hand, so Taeil does so slowly. He’s almost done and looks up at Haechan to inform him of his progress, but he doesn’t get to – for Haechan is staring at him, leaving him destabilized.

“Do I have something on my face?” Taeil asks, unsure.

“You mean, apart from beauty?” Haechan jokes, making Taeil sigh.

“Stop saying whatever,” Taeil grumbles, focusing back on the handcuffs.

“I joke about a lot of things, but I wasn’t joking right now,” Haechan adds after a few seconds of silence, very softly.

Taeil doesn’t know where this conversation is heading, so he only listens, stubbornly avoiding looking at Haechan because he doesn’t know how he’d react meeting his eyes. There’s a tense silence, and Haechan sighs. He runs his hand through his hair with his free hand, and Taeil hears him take a deep breath before he utters his next words.

“Can I tell you something?

Taeil gulps, and nods.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Have you noticed how much I like you?”

Taeil freezes, and the chain that held back the handcuffs to the desk breaks. For what seems like an eternity, he doesn’t dare look at Haechan, but when he does, he’s met with a sight he’s seldom seen: Haechan looks both hopeful and terrified. But what really strikes Taeil is all the love he can see in his eyes, a love that they’ve both tried to suppress from their interactions, passing all of them as just friendly.

“I love you so much,” Haechan adds, whispering, “and I don’t want it to ruin everything between us, but all I want is to be your boyfriend. I’m sorry.”

Taeil’s cheeks turn pink, and he knows it’s now or never. Haechan was brave enough to confess, so it’s only fair he reciprocates.

“I’d love that because I love you too!” Taeil answers, almost stuttering as he speaks quickly.

Haechan’s entire face lights up as he understands Taeil’s words, and it’s his turn to blush.

“For real?!”

Taeil nods, and Haechan has the wonderful idea to try to jump on him, resulting in the two of them falling on the floor. Taeil lets out a pained noise as his head and back hit the ground, but Haechan’s giggle almost makes him forget about the unexpected pain.

“Did you really have to send me to the floor?”

“Sorry,” Haechan says, hugging Taeil so tight the latter almost stops breathing.

Haechan eventually lets go, letting Taeil sit up, and remains against him, between his legs. Their eyes meet again, and it seems like they’re staring at each other for the longest time. That is, until Haechan closes his eyes and leans in, slowly. Taeil closes his as well, and welcome Haechan’s mouth against his in a tight-lipped kiss, their very first kiss.

Haechan lets out a happy moan in the kiss, and tilts his head for a better kissing angle. Taeil can’t help but shiver as Haechan’s free hand caresses his neck, slowly going down to rest against his chest where it remains, tightly holding onto his shirt. Their tongues meet in a soft and wet exchange, and from then the kiss grows even more passionate.

They break away and Taeil is a little worried about how much he likes feeling Haechan cuddling up to him, panting against his mouth breathlessly. Haechan buries his face in his neck with a happy noise, and Taeil welcomes him there, hugging him closer.

“I love you,” Haechan confesses in a muffled voice.

“I love you too,” Taeil answers, pressing a warm kiss against Haechan’s neck.

They finally get up again, holding hands the best they can with their handcuffed hands, and Haechan literally cannot stop giggling.

“This is the best night of my life,” Haechan exclaims, making Taeil laugh.

“You’re so easy to please,” he jokes.

“It’s not every day I get to confess my crush and see my feelings reciprocated,” Haechan dramatically declares.

“You’re right,” Taeil agrees with a grin. “Should we hurry up and win this game so we can explore more in detail what being boyfriends entails?”

Haechan’s reciprocal grin is enough of an answer.

* * *

In the guest room’s closet, a loud sigh can be heard through the thin door, followed by an equally as loud slap and a pained “ouch!”.

“Stop sighing, we’ll get caught!” Kun hisses.

“Bold of you to assume we won’t get caught if I stop sighing,” Ten shoots back, “I’m so bored I could lose the game on purpose.”

“You’re the one who insisted to hide in the closet because, I quote, it’d be fun,” Kun argues.

“Well, yes, because I thought of different kind of coming out jokes we could make once they’d found us, but I’m past that. At this point, I’m starting to suspect Taeil and Haechan have found a place to hide and make out.”

Kun snorts at his boyfriend’s argument.

“Nonsense,” Kun shakes his head, “they’re not even together. How would they magically realize they love each other and start dating precisely tonight?”

“You never know,” Ten shrugs. “Anyway, I’m so bored, entertain me!”

“What am I? A clown? A buffoon?”

“Glad you came to that realization by yourself,” Ten agrees, “now do something fun for your king!”

“How about I strangle you with your mummy strips, hm?”

Ten’s face splits up with an evil grin at Kun’s threat.

“Oh God yes daddy, choke me!”

“Ten!”

There’s some shuffling around as Ten backs away from Kun’s reach while Kun crawls towards his boyfriend, and Ten’s back eventually hits the other end of the closet. He’s laughing as Kun hits his arms and chest, telling him he’s insufferable. Kun’s rage doesn’t last, and he goes back to the opposite end of the closet, as far away as possible from Ten.

“Don’t talk to me anymore,” Kun says.

Ten has the hardest time calming down, but once he’s better, he comes back to Kun.

“Okay, no more jokes,” he says, “let’s cuddle while waiting?”

Kun huffs, making Ten smile fondly.

“C’mon Kunnie,” he whispers, “open up,” he adds, patting Kun’s legs.

It’s Kun’s turn to sigh, and he does spread his legs enough for Ten to settle against his chest, curling up against him and resting his head on his shoulder. There’s a short moment of silence, and Ten kisses Kun’s neck gently.

“You looked really good tonight,” Ten compliments him, “that explorer outfit was a good idea.”

“I guess our concepts match,” Kun answers, “I’m probably the dumb explorer who opened a sarcophagus and now I’m stuck with a mummy.”

“And you’re the mummy’s reincarnated lover hence why said mummy is loving you with a little too much passion,” Ten jokes.

He smiles as he hears Kun snigger, and his smiles becomes even bigger as he feels Kun hugging him tighter.

“For real,” Ten complains, “what can we do? We already spent time kissing earlier but we can’t go further so it’s no use getting too horny.”

“Wait until we get home and I’ll take care of your horny ass,” Kun says, and Ten looks up.

“Really?”

“Hm-hm.”

“Aw, you really are the best Kunnie.”

“I try my best because I love you, somehow,” Kun jokes, and Ten laughs.

“And I love you too,” he whispers, turning around so as to kiss Kun on the lips.

They share a few tender kisses, showing affection to each other in a softer demonstration as compared to their verbal arguments, and they’re back to wondering what they could possibly do.

“I think I’m just gonna nap,” Kun admits, “I’m getting tired.”

“That sounds like the best option,” Ten agrees, “get some rest and I’ll wake you up when they find us.”

“Okay,” Kun smiles, “do you want to stay in my arms?”

“You’re silly for thinking for even a second I would’ve answered no to that.”

* * *

“Okay, where should we check next?” Taeil answers.

Haechan thinks for a second, and snaps his fingers.

“Let’s go with the guest room,” he answers, “I have a good feeling about it.”

Taeil answers with a smile. Haechan steals a kiss off his lips, and leads the way to said guest room. They enter and turn on the lights. At first sight, there’s nothing strange, but Taeil lets Haechan’s instinct guide them. They check the bed, but there’s nothing. Haechan points to the closet, and Taeil nods. His boyfriend swings the closet door open, making the two people in it jump in surprise. Kun almost bangs his head, but Ten is fast enough to react and cover his boyfriend’s head before it can make contact with the hard wall behind him.

“Oh my God, would it kill you to at least knock?” Kun grumbles.

“Kunnie’s right, there’s no need for violence at this late hour,” Ten agrees.

“They have a point,” Taeil tells Haechan.

“I don’t care, all I want is to win the game so hand over the clue now!” Haechan declares.

He goes as far as to pull out his fake gun from his back pocket, making Taeil sigh. Ten gets up and leaves the closet first, stretching because his body is feeling incredibly tired from having stayed in that too small space. Kun follows suit, and he groans in pain as one of his legs feel numb.

“Why do you act like you’re so old?” Haechan snickers.

“Taeil is literally older than us, chill,” Ten retorts.

Taeil frowns, and Haechan defends himself by saying that Taeil isn’t that old and that he’s great.

“Sure, sure,” Ten shrugs, “here’s your clue Sherlock,” he adds, getting the envelope from one of Kun’s pockets.

“Thank you,” Taeil replies, opening the envelope.

The final clue is a map with a red cross in the middle of it, making both Taeil and Haechan frown.

“Let’s see,” Taeil wonders aloud, “the previous clues were jewelry and soulmates,” he states, “and now we’ve got a map.”

“I’m not sure what the soulmates has to do with anything but my best guess regarding the jewelry and map clues is that the treasure is some kind of jewel, hidden somewhere,” Haechan chirps in.

“I like that reasoning. Let’s go downstairs,” Taeil offers, and everyone agrees.

Johnny and Taeyong congratulate Taeil and Haechan for finding everyone and their clues, and everyone spends time talking about their hiding spots and how the pair of detectives ended up finding them. Haechan and Taeil are finally freed from their handcuffs, courtesy of Johnny, and they ask him about their hypothesis. Johnny wiggles his eyebrows.

“You’re on the right track,” Johnny says, “do you have any idea where the treasure could be hidden?”

Taeil ponders about it for a moment, and an idea comes to his mind.

“A red cross on a map would typically point to a pirate treasure,” he says, slowly, “and pirate treasures are often chests buried on an island or a similar place.”

“Yes, you’re very right,” Johnny nods.

“If it’s buried, then there’s only one place,” Haechan concludes, “the garden.”

And thus everyone ends up in the garden in the middle of the night. Taeil tries not to snicker seeing Kun offering his jacket to Ten because the latter is quite naked, all the more as Ten accepts said jacket and kisses his boyfriend as a thank you. Doyoung and Jaehyun are just holding hands, while Taeyong is staying close to Johnny, smiling knowingly because they seem to know where exactly the treasure is buried. That leaves Haechan by his side, and as they agreed on not revealing their very recent relationship to their friends yet, they’re just acting like close friends, as usual.

They find the treasure quickly: the chest is indeed sitting in a hole in the ground, but Johnny merely covered said hole with a green carpet.

“That was easy,” Taeil teases as Haechan hands him the chest.

“I honestly didn’t think anyone would have the strength to go digging a chest at this hour,” Johnny laughs, “and most of the detective work was done anyway, the chest is just the cherry on top.”

They all go back inside and sit around the table at which they had dinner. Haechan opens the chest, and retrieves a pair of golden bracelets.

“Oh wow, they’re pretty!” Taeil comments after Haechan has given one of the bracelets.

“And they match!” Haechan exclaims, “look inside, there’s a word!”

Indeed, Taeil’s bracelet reads “soul” in an elegant, subtle cursive writing, while Haechan’s reads “mate”.

“Congratulations on winning the game,” Johnny says, grinning. “I hope you like your prize!”

“I really like it,” Haechan answers first.

He makes eye contact with Taeil, and there’s an unspoken agreement not to say too much about themselves. At least, not yet.

“I love it too,” Taeil grins, “thank you Johnny, Taeyong.”

“Wait a minute, I forgot we had other prizes!” Taeyong suddenly says, getting up.

They leave for the kitchen and come back quickly, holding a few bags of cookies that they immediately hand out to everyone around the table.

“I made those earlier, and Johnny said they were good, so if you’ve got any complaints about them, please do address them to him,” Taeyong jokes.

“You’re a great cook babe, no one will complain,” Johnny grins, “and if you do, raise your standards because anything Taeyong cooks or bakes is absolutely amazing.”

Doyoung looks at the cookie bag in Jaehyun’s hands and whispers loudly that the treats are probably poisoned, causing everyone, even Johnny and Taeyong, to laugh.

“I would’ve poisoned yours but I care too much about Jaehyun to let him suffer the same fate as you,” Taeyong teases.

“You know I’d come back from the dead to haunt you, Taeyong, don’t try me,” Doyoung threatens, and Jaehyun shushes him.

“Say thank you for the cookies and quit having an attitude,” Jaehyun scolds Doyoung.

Doyoung grumbles a reluctant thank you, causing more laughter, and everyone agrees they should go home. There’s a lot of hugs, and eventually it’s just Taeil and Haechan with Johnny and Taeyong.

“Are you gonna take a cab too?” Taeyong asks.

“Yeah, it’s not like either of us can drive since we drank earlier,” Haechan says, “is it okay if I leave my car here? I’ll come back and pick it up tomorrow.”

Johnny and Taeyong share a look, and Johnny speaks up.

“Or do you want to stay over, maybe? We’ve got the guest room so it’s not like it’ll bother us, and that way you can leave from here with your car tomorrow morning.”

Haechan and Taeil look at each other, and Taeyong speaks up as well.

“That is, if you’re okay with sharing the bed in the guest room. I’d understand if you didn’t want to.”

“I don’t mind, we’ve shared beds before,” Haechan answers, looking at Taeil, “would you be okay with it?”

“Yup, we’ve already done it before on our trips so I’m good. Thanks for the offer guys.”

Half an hour later, both couples have wished each other good night and are in their respective rooms. Taeil joins Haechan on the bed, and they grin at each other. Taeil moves closer, close enough to kiss Haechan on the mouth, and Haechan answers the kiss.

“That was a fun night,” Taeil says after they break away.

“Yeah, definitely,” Haechan agrees.

They shuffled around to cuddle, and as they’re laying in each other’s arms, Haechan speaks up.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Hm-hm?”

“I hadn’t planned on handcuffing you,” Haechan confesses, “but when Johnny saw that fake pair of handcuffs, he told me I should use it on you.”

“… So this whole mess happened because of Johnny? I can’t believe him!”

“Shhh, not so loud!”

Taeil sighs, and Haechan makes a weird noise.

“But it did bring us closer, didn’t it?”

Taeil grins, and nods.

“You’re right. We should probably keep those handcuffs.”

“How about I handcuff you to me for the rest of our lives?” Haechan teases, but Taeil can tell there’s a hint of seriousness behind his words.

“That’s a strange way of proposing, but when the time comes, I’ll think about it,” Taeil replies.

They both start laughing at the ridiculousness of their words, and cuddle even closer.

“Good night,” Haechan whispers, “I love you.”

“Sweet dreams,” Taeil whispers back, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a quote on the incorrect hyuckil quotes Twitter account @hyuckilsays that goes 
> 
> hyuck: hey, i made us friendship bracelets  
> taeil: aww, that's so sweet! put it on me!  
> hyuck: [handcuffs taeil to his wrist]
> 
> Don't hesitate to leave comments to let me know if you liked the fic! ♡
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/dojaefairy) | [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.qa/dojaefairy)


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